WARTILE
- February 8, 2018
- Playwood Project
- 16h median play time
If you’re looking for something different as a fan of tabletop games and have the patience to bear with the controls, you’ll likely enjoy WARTILE.
Get on SteamWartile is a historical role-playing game with both single-player and multi-player modes, offering a good story, beautiful gameplay, ingenious visuals, and amazing music. It features a miniature universe inspired by Norse mythology and cool-down based combat to control the pace of battle, offering strategic decisions with tension and breathing room. Wartile is the successor to the upcoming game, Successor.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Windows
Xbox One
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a unique blend of real-time and turn-based mechanics, allowing for strategic gameplay while maintaining a sense of urgency.
- The graphics and art style are stunning, creating a visually appealing experience that captures the essence of a tabletop game.
- The ability to customize characters and use various cards adds depth to the gameplay, making each mission feel fresh and engaging.
- The user interface can be clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to manage characters and abilities effectively during combat.
- The game currently lacks content, with a limited number of missions and character options, leading to potential repetitiveness.
- Some players have reported bugs and crashes, which can disrupt the gameplay experience and hinder progress.
- story141 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The story in Wartile is generally considered basic and lacks depth, serving primarily as a backdrop for the gameplay rather than a compelling narrative. While it incorporates Norse mythology and offers a simple quest structure, many players find the character interactions and plot development to be minimal and uninspired. Despite this, some appreciate the thematic elements and the integration of the story with the game's mechanics, though the overall execution leaves room for improvement.
“Wartile is a strategy game allowing the player to take command of a Norse warband on a quest to save their land from a mysterious plague.”
“The story is entertaining with an open end ;)”
“I like the strategy, the pace, the characters, and the storylines... just brilliant all the way through.”
“Add some soporific music and narration for a story that fails to engage, and I had no fun at all with this one.”
“While the game does have a storyline, it is as simple and basic as you can get. It is just 'here is the reason why you are on a mission' and that is it.”
“The story and the writing leave something to be desired, not being particularly noteworthy beyond a stereotypical background for each character and epic-sounding but vague directives for missions, consisting of fetch quests for special items or milestones to reach.”
- gameplay127 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Wartile is characterized by a unique blend of real-time and turn-based mechanics, offering a fresh experience that emphasizes positioning and strategy. While the game features solid mechanics and beautiful visuals, many players find the tactical options to be shallow and the gameplay repetitive, leading to a lack of depth and engagement over time. Overall, the innovative concepts are appreciated, but the execution leaves some players wanting more complexity and content.
“The game has such nice ideas, is really polished when it comes to game mechanics, and as I said before, the audio is outstanding. The mix of tile battling a la Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem really works nicely together with the usage of cards that can do all kinds of stuff.”
“Gameplay is unique and takes a little time to get used to, but once you do, it flows very well.”
“The gameplay is fun and straightforward, and it looks gorgeous.”
“None of these units are very deep, so the core gameplay loop winds up feeling very boring and uninteresting.”
“It is very nicely drawn, but the tactical options are quite shallow and the gameplay becomes quite repetitive very quickly.”
“The concept of this game really grabbed me, but unfortunately the actual gameplay ended up feeling rather lifeless.”
- graphics88 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beauty and unique tabletop aesthetic, with many reviewers highlighting the striking art style and detailed environments that enhance the overall experience. However, some players noted technical issues, such as crashes and a lack of graphic options, which detracted from the visual enjoyment. Overall, the game's visuals are considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to its appeal despite some gameplay shortcomings.
“A fun game with absolutely beautiful graphics.”
“The game drew me in due to its beautiful tabletop graphics.”
“Absolutely amazing visuals and map designs, easy enough spending time looking at it all rather than playing.”
“Lowest setting for all graphics lowest windowed resolution on a RTX 3070 and it crashes at the end of the first level.”
“While the terrain and environments are beautiful in the preview video and photos, in-game the graphics feel drab and dated.”
“When initially opening up the game options, I was astonished to discover no graphic options at all, and spent a minute closing and re-opening to figure out what was going on.”
- music32 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received largely positive feedback, with many players praising its beauty, atmospheric quality, and ability to enhance the overall experience. While some found it soporific or unremarkable, the majority appreciated the soundtrack's depth and the quality of the voice acting, often highlighting it as a standout feature that complements the game's aesthetic and gameplay. Overall, the music is considered a significant asset, with some players even purchasing the soundtrack separately for personal enjoyment.
“This game looks beautiful, plays beautifully, and has one of the best voice and music I've heard in the last few years.”
“Beautiful maps and graphic design with a fantastic soundtrack.”
“The music and voices are fantastic.”
“Add some soporific music and narration for a story that fails to engage, and I had no fun at all with this one.”
“It's probably because I don't listen to music in action games and it's often too repetitive and generic sounding in strategy/adventure games.”
“The soundtrack is alright, but not particularly remarkable.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with many expressing frustration over the locked cards and clunky UI mechanics that hinder movement and combat. While some appreciate the replay value from varying difficulty levels and tactics, the overall experience is marred by a lack of vibrancy and engaging gameplay, leading to a sense of monotony in farming for better equipment.
“All cards start locked, and unlocking them seems both tedious and a little unrewarding.”
“It is both very click-intensive, tedious, confused, and muddled.”
“Therefore, in order to lengthen the playtime, the designer decided to enforce repetitive farming with unreasonable level difficulty.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed, with some players noting low to mid levels of replay value due to a limited number of maps and recycled content. However, others appreciate the ability to experiment with different characters and tactics across varying difficulty levels, which can enhance replayability for those who enjoy the combat mechanics. The absence of multiplayer options and a lack of significant variation in the storyline further contribute to the perception of low replayability.
“Beautiful visuals and plenty of replay value make this a must-have for fans of mythology, board games, and tabletop players.”
“You can play the same map worlds with different characters and tactics at increasing levels of difficulty, which gives the game lots of replay value without being grindy or pay-to-win.”
“While the lack of multiplayer and variation in the storyline diminish the replay value quite a bit, I do intend to keep playing the game further to complete the other difficulty tiers and try my hand at the remaining achievements, as I genuinely enjoyed the combat for what it is.”
“There are not very many maps (seven, I think) and there is low replay value.”
“It lacks replay value at the moment, and the stages are recycled and reused with different objectives/settings.”
“Short campaign/low replayability.”
- stability9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -11 % neutral mentions
- 78 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant bugs, such as disappearing items, sound glitches, and movement issues that disrupt gameplay. While some users have noted a lack of bugs in their experience, the overall consensus indicates that the game is still quite unstable, particularly for those who may not have the patience for its current state. The absence of a proper save feature further exacerbates concerns about stability, making it a challenging experience for players with limited time.
“Of course it isn't perfect, but no game is, and for having just released, it's mostly bug-free.”
“The game is stable overall, providing a smooth experience despite minor issues.”
“While there are some quirks, the game maintains a solid performance throughout.”
“Also found it very buggy as I would sometimes unequip an item and it would disappear; I would not be able to re-equip it again.”
“The lack of a proper save feature should be enough to warn most adults with limited time on their hands away from this, but the fact that this is still so buggy that I can't even complete the second mission...”
“There are sound glitches, teleporting enemy units, and movement glitches when using the shift key that make all your pieces enter another area, but the screen doesn't change and you are forced to reload the game.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its vibrant and brash art style, which resembles digital dioramas, and is complemented by atmospheric music and clever board design. Reviewers appreciate the immersive Nordic Viking theme, enhanced by engaging animations and audio that contribute to a captivating overall experience.
“These battleboards look pretty much like digital dioramas with a vivid, brash art style that suits the atmosphere.”
“I like the styling, the clever board look and feel, and the in-game animations and audio create a brilliant atmosphere.”
“Brilliant and innovative strategic game with a nice Viking atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere feels flat and uninspired, lacking the depth needed to immerse players in the game world.”
“Despite the vibrant art style, the overall atmosphere fails to evoke any real sense of excitement or tension.”
“The game attempts to create a unique atmosphere, but it ultimately falls short, leaving players feeling disconnected.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted as both relaxing and entertaining, with a notable soundtrack enhancing the experience. Players find amusement in the contrasting opinions of those who downvote the game despite minimal playtime, particularly in the context of humorous comments about preferences for different game styles.
“Relaxing, funny game with an incredible soundtrack.”
“It's so funny because the people downrating this have only 0.1-1 hours of game time; there's even one person who has 0.0 hours and still rated this game.”
“Apparently that's what a lot of people want... as comment sections are flooded with 'this game should have been turn-based garbage!' which is funny since Steam has a wide selection of garbage that you can sift through and find what you're looking for.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviewers suggest that improved optimization, alongside additional maps and content, could significantly enhance the game's appeal and elevate it to indie mega-hit status.
“More maps and content, along with better optimization, would make this an indie mega-hit.”
“The game suffers from severe performance issues, making it frustrating to play.”
“Optimization is lacking, resulting in frequent frame drops and long loading times.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers suggest that the game's unit acquisition and progression systems strongly indicate the potential for future microtransactions or a transition to a free-to-play model.
“Furthermore, the unit acquisition and progression hints heavily that the game will likely have microtransactions and/or go free-to-play at some point in time.”
Critic Reviews
Wartile Review (PS4)
Usually, you don't need a deep, compelling story when you're playing a boardgame, especially if it's one that you play against your friends. However, Wartile is trying to tell a story, but it fails miserably at keeping players entertained. It's a pity because that single negative aspect takes away a lot from the gameplay experience, which is quite fun overall. It's strange because if you play Wartile like a boardgame, you'll most likely have a ton of fun. Otherwise, Wartile is a video game where you'll just clear level after level using miniatures that move on map made of hexagons. Luckily, that is a very fun and rewarding experience as well, although it could have been much better. All in all, Wartile is a fair indie game: it is different, well-executed and humble. If you like tabletop games or if you are just looking for something different, tactical and fun, you will not regret the 15 hours spent moving the Vikings from hexagon to hexagon.
70%WARTILE GBAtemp review
WARTILE is a fine game and I’m glad that it exists despite not hitting its Kickstarter goal. It’s a relatively fun short romp. There’s a particular itch that this game looks so ready to scratch, but it can’t quite reach it. I can’t complain too much at $20 but at the same time I advise waiting for the game to go on sale. This game may have fell short of the potential I feel it had, but I nonetheless hope to see more from PlayWood Project Aps in the future.
65%WARTILE Review
If you’re looking for something different as a fan of tabletop games and have the patience to bear with the controls, you’ll likely enjoy WARTILE.
60%
